1 Innocence

"FINN! Breakfast is ready! Come down now or you'll be late for school!" the woman yells while putting the scrambled eggs on the dining table and dashes to the bread toaster as soon as she hears the tingling sound of the machine.

"FIIINNN!!!!" she yells for the second time while returning to the dining table with a plate of toasted bread on her hand. Upon putting the plate on the table, she recoils as seeing a little kid standing in front of the door yawning and scratching his head.

"Can you please stop popping out of nowhere? I'll die from a heart attack if you'll do it every single day Finn." the lady sighs while caressing her chest, trying to ease the sudden pain. "C' mon, sit down and eat." she adds as she takes a sit and sips on her cup of coffee.

The kid, with his mind still in dreamland, wobble towards the dining table, "Morni- Ow!" a sharp thud suddenly breaks the silence.

"Hey! Are you all right?" his mom bolts up to check on Finn, who is rubbing his forehead while pushing aside the chair he bumped into to hop in it. Finn grumbles while picking one of the freshly toasted bread and gnaws it with furor. "Why are chairs so tall!"

Finn's mom chuckles on his statement and caresses the little kid's forehead with her warm and soft hand, "Its because you're still small..."

"Not you too mom!" he cuts before his mom could finish her sentence while glaring at her with eyes filled with irritation. She smiles and playfully pinches Finn's cheeks "... But you'll be a tall man someday, like your dad!"

"Hmp! I-" he got interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell that resonates around the apartment, "Oh, your wifey is punctual as always." she speaks in a sarcastic way before going to the main door to welcome the visitor.

His face turns into a bright red color and becomes flustered, "S-shut up mom!" he dashes back to his room making loud stomps on his way while munching another slice of toasted bread.

The lady sips on the cup of coffee that she's holding before opening the door, the doorknob cranks upon turning and the door screeches as she pulls it slowly.

"Good morning Finn's mom!" a little girl greets the lady with enthusiasm with a bright smile depicted on her face. "Good morning to you too Hana, here to pick up Finn?" she greets back while crouching to level the girl's height.

"Yes, Finn's mom. Finn's mom is beautiful as always!" Hana replies as she combs the lady's long, red and smooth as silk hair with her little fingers. "I want to be as beautiful as Finn's mom in the future!" the girl adds while looking at her with sparkling eyes.

"Awww~ and I want to have a cute, diligent and adorable daughter-in-law like you!" the lady replies while patting Hana's head and grins; the little girl tilts her head "Daughter... In... Low?" replied with a confused tone and mind processing what Finn's mom is saying.

"Well, it is whe-" "Mom we're going!" Finn pops behind his mom, carrying his bag pack, while cutting his mom's explanation, making her and Hana startle by the sudden shout.

"Good morning Finn!" Hana greets him with a grin. He simply nods as a response making a strained smile, he averts his eyes when his and Hana's made contact. His ears turn into a bright red color out of shyness and his heart starts pulsing like crazy; he began to feel strange since the day when his eyes first saw Hana, reading a picture book under the shadow of the maple tree on the park in front of their apartment.

It is love at first sight, a puppy love that sprouted a year ago. He flinches and returns from the sweet past that his mind was projecting inside his brain into the present by a grip on the shoulder by his infuriated mom, trying to sustain her anger. "I told you a few seconds ago to stop popping out of nowhere, right?! You're not a mushroom!"

"WAAaa-! So sorry mom!" He recoils and uses his bag as a shield to protect himself from any harm that might approach. Hana, on the other hand, chuckles at Finn's futile attempt to defend himself, his mom grabs the bag he's holding as a shield and snatches it away from him. "It's almost time, I'll accompany you to school." she says as she looks at the wall clock in the living room, takes the last sip of coffee and leaves it at the center table of the living room.

Finn sighs, relieved for escaping from mother's anger. His mom closes and locks the door after going out, she then holds the kid's hands on both sides "Let's go!" she says with a smile before the three of them start to walk.

The school that the kids are attending is just a block away from the apartment, it takes only a few pairs of minutes of walk to arrive there.

Finn's mom waves at them while returning back to the apartment building, the kids smile at the lady before they enter the school. "Finn..." Hana breaks the silence between them "... What do daughter-in....low means?"

"It's not low, its law. L-A-W." The boy brushes his hair while thinking for a definition of the word daughter-in-law. "Ummm... it is the wife of someone's son, I think." Finn looks at Hana who is walking beside him "Why?"

The girl just shakes her head, looking down at the white floor, hiding her smile. "I'm curious, that's all." she speaks up after arriving at their classroom.

"See you later at the hideout." he notes as he heads to the bunch of guys sitting at the corner of the room, playing a popular card game. Hana nods at him and goes to the girls playing with dolls at the center of the room; the kids play with gusto until the teacher arrives.

The children go back to their assigned seats in a blink of an eye, hiding their toys under the desk of their tables; the teacher, who did not notice a thing, fixes his round spectacles and wiggles his mustache before making a roll call.

~●~

The hours slip so fast that it is already time to go home. Finn goes to the hideout ahead, dashing throughout the sidewalk until he reaches the park. There are a lot of kids already playing tag, running here and there, making a huge hubbub every time someone gets almost touched by the chaser; while the adults are chatting and keeping an eye to their child.

He walks toward the drinking fountain, gasping and catching his breath, then he stands in his tiptoes and leans forward to drink from it. The cold water revitalizes his body making it functional once again, the fatigue from dashing vanishes in thin air. Finn rubs his wet chin against his arm to dry it clean as he walks toward the maple tree where he first saw Hana.

The tree is at the far end of the park with bushes around it, the perfect hideout that no one ever discovered; Finn sits at the bottom of the tree and drops his bag beside him. The shouting of the children playing is still audible, he stares at them while hugging his knees and rests his head in between.

A few minutes have passed since he sat at the bottom of the maple tree, the kids playing tag are now exhausted and sitting at the benches talking and eating some snacks.

"Finn!" an abrupt shout averts Finn's attention making him look toward the little girl trotting toward his direction, grinning and waving her hand.

"What took you so long?" he snorts as soon as Hana reaches his location, the little girl sits beside him and rummages inside her bag, "You see... Me and my friends made these in home economics. Ta-da!" she takes out a transparent pouch that contains biscuits, "This is yours!" she says smiling while handing it to Finn.

"Oh, thanks Hana." he replies as he takes the pouch and opens it, he takes a biscuit out of the pouch and puts it in his mouth. "It's delicious!" he says while masticating the food and making some crunching sounds "It would be nice to eat the food you make every day."

"Eh? Is it that good?" Hana replies while staring at Finn with doubting eyes, he becomes flustered at the moment he realizes that the thing he said sounds like a confession. "We-well... Ummm... Y-yeah."

He stutters while looking away, trying to hide his blushing face from her. Hana chuckles to his reaction and crouches in front of Finn, staring at him with her dark brown eyes, "Hey Finn." she says,

"Hm?" he glances at her direction, still facing the other side. " You're acting strange, something happened?" Hana asks while poking his exposed and pinkish cheek. Finn did not budge and kept silent, his heart pumping in an unnatural way as if trying to jump out of his tiny chest, his mind wavering to tell her or not this feeling he bottled up for so long.

The girl pouts and begins to tickle Finn's most sensitive part, he squirms as his sides are being attacked and start to laugh. "Tell me or I won't stop." she states with an evil grin as she moves her fingers on Finn's side with swiftness.

"Okay... Haha, s-stop! Hahaha, I-I'll speak! Hahaha," he concedes and struggles to make Hana stop by tapping her arm. She let him go and sits properly, fixing her bob haircut by brushing them with her little fingers.

Finn sits up, holding his chest while panting and still chuckling a little, "So?" she asks while staring at Finn's eyes.

Silence lay like a down-filled duvet over the area, muffling the slightest sound and creating an atmosphere of total tranquillity.

The quietness is almost tangible, no rustle of tree branches, breathing slow and barely audible, even the once creaking of the building settling was stilled as though to order.

"I.." Finn finally breaks the silence, mustering all his courage to say the words that he thought he will never have the chance to say. Hana, surprised, budges from his sudden talk; he takes a deep breath before opening his mouth,

"I like you." he finally says it, with his eyes glued into her's, now his heart beats even faster and it might explode at any moment. Hana chuckles, "Dummy, I like you too." while standing up and patting her dress to take the dust off.

"Huh? Really?" he replies with eyes wide open since he expected that he will be rejected.

She turns away and nods, "Your mom too, our teachers too and our friends too." to hide her sad smile from him. She takes a deep breath and sighs " We should go home or our parents will get worried."

"Hana, I love you! It's the I want to marry you kind of love!" Finn yells, grabbing Hana's hand to stop her from walking away. Hana stands there with her hand held by him, she takes another deep breath and then sighs all the air out. "Take me on a date, if you'll make me happy today, then I'll consider you as my lover." She turns at him forcing a smile, her eyes have a faint reddish color like the eyes of someone who cried.

He genuinely smiles at Hana, then he picks up and wears their bag before leaving. The park that once was filled with children is now almost deserted, the sky that once was painted in cyan is now getting bluer. The dusk is already approaching; Finn holds her hand a little bit tighter as they arrive at the sidewalk, thinking where would they go.

"There's a crepé stand near the train station that sells delicious crepés. I'm sure you'll smile after trying them." Finn says while leading the way to the station. Hanna just obediently follows the boy without saying anything, nor showing any sign of disapproving with her face staring down the sidewalk.

The street lights open one by one as it becomes a little darker, the cold wind of the night starts blowing, chilling the kids' defenseless bodies. Hana trembles by the sudden spur that hit her cheek; as they walk down the path, they stumble upon an arcade.

"Hey Hana, look. A crane!" Finn says with enthusiasm while pointing at the machine in front of the building. He drags her towards the machine and looks at the different stuff toys inside.

Hana's eyes sparkle as she sees a stuffed toy of her favorite cartoon character, "I want! I want!" she whoops as she points at the hamster like stuff toy that is laying at the center.

"Wait, I'll go get some tokens." He enters the arcade while counting the money that he has. A few seconds after he returns with only three tokens in his hand, " Let's get that stuffed toy!" he yells as if declaring war against the machine.

"YEAH!!" Hana denotes, jumping and flailing her arms in the air, her hopes are high as the sky again. "Hold these for me." he gives the other tokens to her and puts the one that he's holding into the machine, making a clanking sound.

The crane moves as he pushes the lever with sound effects and lights following its every movement. Finn calculates the distance between the crane and the stuffed toy with caution and when he feels that they are facing each other, he pushes the button with force as if implying that the prize is already theirs.

"Go Finn!! Go!" Hana's eyes are filled with avarice as the crane precipitates down to the stuffed toy and barely scraping it. "Aww... It was close." she mumbles as she stares at the crane going up holding nothing but the air in between its claws.

"Don't worry! We still have two chances left!" Finn tries to bring up her morale with another genuine smile and his palm in front of her, asking for another token. Hana grins as she gives the second chance to him.

"This time for sure I'll get you!" he remarks with eyes filled with determination, his hand holding the token moves downward in a swing motion, aiming for the token hole.

A sudden grab in his shoulder stops the boy, making him wince and fail to put the token inside the machine. " So you were here after all." The person grabbing his shoulder speaks with a womanly, loud, booming voice seemingly shook the kids. Finn is frightened. Her voice reverberates long after she finished speaking, and he had not heard such a threatening sound in all his life.

"Mom!?!" Finn squeaks and slowly turns towards the woman, his knees trembling in fear and his hand gripping on the token he is holding, in that very moment he understood that he is in a bad situation.

"Hello Mr. Misaki, I found the kids. We're returning to the apartments." His mom drops the call before putting her phone on her pocket. "Never do this again!" she implores, drying the tears off her eyes and grabbing the kids' hands.

But Finn resists, taking his hand out of his mom's grasp. Because he knows, he still did not make Hana happy. "Not yet mom, there's still something I need to do!"

"Can you stop being selfish for once Finn! You've also dragged Hana along with you." His mom says with an imperative tone and eyes menacing the little kid, trying to tame her kid's stubborn attitude and to grab his hand.

Finn's hand is now shackled but still struggling, pushing himself away with all his might, crying, his desire to make the girl that he loves happy, he desperately wants to make Hana happy. "But mom! Wai-"

The boy freezes as Hana hugs him, "Stop. Please, stop..." she says in a brittle tone. ".... It's all right now." She reassures Finn, sobbing and clinging tightly on his body. There is nothing he can do anymore, the strength he had to oppose vanishes in the thin air and accepts his failure in silence.

~●~

The sun shines in the sky once again, Finn slowly opens his drowsy and dried-from-tear eyes. A perfect Saturday for going out and have fun, but he can't bring himself to be cheery for the things that have happened last night. He wobbles towards the bathroom to wash his sorry state face while putting his hand in the pocket of his shorts.

"Hm?" he stops as his hand caught something inside the pocket, something like plastic that crackles every time he moves his hand. He realizes that he did not change into his pajamas last night, he is still wearing the clothes he wore yesterday; he abruptly takes the thing outside of his pocket.

It is the pouch of biscuits that Hana gave him, but the biscuits are all crumbled now. " A letter?" he questions as he sees a piece of paper inside with a To Finn written in it.

He takes the paper out, spilling some crumbles on the floor, and unfolds the crumpled paper. The pouch slips on his hand making a mess when his tears roll down his cheeks as he reads the letter addressed to him.

Dear Finn,

by the time you are reading this letter, I'm already miles away from you.

I didn't have the courage to tell you personally, that's why I wrote it in this letter.

Me and my dad are going back to Japan for the family business, but don't worry.

I'll come back in five years. I promise. Do you remember the day we first met? It's still fresh in my mind, as if it was just yesterday, the smile that you have shown me that day made my heart skip a beat. I really love your smile, that's why, when I'm gone I want you to keep smiling.

Cherish that smile like you cherished our friendship for the last months that had passed.

Every day its always an adventure when I'm with you and you're always by my side, cheering me up every time I'm sad. I love you, Finn.

It's the I want to marry you kind of love.

Hana Misaki

Finn falls on his knees making a loud thud, bawling like a new neonate fresh out from the womb who makes contact to the outer world and sees light for the first time. No matter how loud and how long he cries, Hana is no longer beside him. That is why he can't stop the tears from falling.

"Finn? Are you awake?" her mom knocks on the other side of the door, preoccupied with the noise that came from her son's room. She slowly opens the door, making faint screeching sounds. "Are you al- Finn?!?" she rushes towards the boy who is crying on his knees, holding a piece of paper.

"Calm down, mom is here." she whispers as she hugs and rubs the poor little boy's back to cease him from crying. Her attention slides to the paper that Finn is holding, she gently takes it away from him and reads the letter in silence.

She hugs him tightly as she finally understood the reason of his crying, a tear slips down her cheek for the pain that her son feels is twice as painful of what the kid is feeling right now. She sniffs and looks at Finn's eyes, wiping the tears away.

Her voice brittles as she speaks " It's inevitable to lose someone on your journey of life Finn. But even if they are miles away, or wherever they might be. They are always here, in our hearts, reminding us to always smile and continue the path we've chosen. Because someday, we might meet them again in a crossroad of our lives."

~●~

The seasons changes and rains pass by; the little kid became a fine man. He returns from school with his mom beside him, holding the diploma he got from the graduation ceremony.

"Time really flies, you were so small and cute," his mom says while clinging onto his shoulder, "and now look at you, tall and handsome." and smiles at him.

"Yeah, like dad." he replies with a genuine smile stapled on his face. As they arrive in front of the apartment building he glances at the park, the place where it all began, where he first met his childhood friend and first love.

"There's somewhere I need to go first mom, I'll be right back." Finn taps his mom's shoulder before she opens the gate. " Make it fast okay? We still need to go to the airport and pick up your dad."

He nods and walks to the park. The sun bathes him with its gentle rays, the place is full of kids playing here and there making the park livelier; step by step he arrives at the spot where he first saw her. The big maple tree with its branches waltzing by the rhythm of the wind.

He sits under the maple tree, space became a little crowded, he chuckles because the reason is simple, he is already a grown up.

Finn sighs as nostalgia strike him, his eyes wander at the vast cyan sky.

A faint sigh comes out of his mouth before mumbling "It has been five years since you're gone, since my clock stopped moving. Since the day my Innocence started to fade. And here I am with my diploma, waiting for you in our hideout" He looks around and sees different kinds of rubbish scattered around, " well, it's not ours now."

He chuckles and scratches his head, "Every single day I go here, hoping for you to appear again someday. This is my 1825th time you know." Finn takes out a token from the pocket of his pants and lifts it up in the sky, "I still have the token from our first date, it was short and a disaster. But I finally got the stuffed toy that you wanted." He smiles while stares at the round metal in his hand.

"After all these years" He stands up as he returns the token back to his pocket, still staring at the sky. "I still love you, Hana."

"I still love you too Finn." A feminine and honeyed voice suddenly comes from the maple tree. Finn bolts away from the tree with his eyes popping out of surprise and looks at the direction of the voice where it came from.

A girl comes out behind of the maple tree, grinning as she walks towards the guy. She hugs him tightly "And its the I want to marry you kind of love."